Ethpaña

Once again, Joe and I found ourselves on the 4 am bus, this time to London Gatwick airport to start our month long Spring Break travel. We’ll eventually end up in parts of Spain, Morocco, Italy, and Greece, but this first leg was to visit Joe’s brothers and mother in Madrid, so we only had a quick two-hour flight.

We had been torn about luggage, because although I am a light packer, even I couldn’t manage a month’s worth of clothes, my computer, books, and toiletries in the one backpack that Easyjet allows for free. Joe was planning on doing a bunch of reading, so had to bring a separate bag just for books and his computer! Because checking a bag costs 75 dollars, more than twice the amount of money we paid for the flight, we sort of skulked our way through the airport, trying to see if we could find a nice employee who would let us through without protest.

Security was no problem, and when we got to the actual gate, Joe managed to conceal his side bag under his jacket and waltz through. Stepping up just behind him, however, I was treated to a disapproving frown. Although I protested cursorily, I knew I had no chance, so I rolled my eyes and paid the fee.

Once we were on the plane, however, everything went rather smoothly. We landed on the other side and were able to quickly get through passport control and find a taxi to take us to the hotel where Joe’s mom and youngest brother were staying. Joe’s middle brother, Benjamin, is currently studying abroad in Madrid, so he was in class, but had promised to meet us at the hotel for lunch once he was finished.

We had the perfect amount of time to drop everything, change clothes, and then head back into the city, hopping on the Metro in order to get to Mercado San Miguel, a closed in market with an amazing selection of food, tapas, and drinks right in the centre of the city. Once there, we broke off and scoured the market, each coming back to the assigned meeting place with different goodies. I found paella and some delicious cheese with olives, Mrs. Riley ended up with ham, calamari, and wine, and Joe and his brothers came back with different rice, cheese, and sort of hot pocket-y selections themselves. We had a feast of randomness, and then all decided to get some frozen Greek yogurt before venturing back out into the city.

We were very close to Plaza Mayor, which is a huge central square with a ton of restaurants and street performers. We walked through to admire the architecture, but we left rather quickly after being accosted by a variety of street performers due to a rather slow day. Then we hopped back on the subway to head to some of the largest gardens in Madrid, and spent a nice hour walking around and taking pictures while enjoying the sunshine. At the back of the gardens is an area called the Crystal Palace, a large and ornate greenhouse structure that was full of beautiful afternoon light. Inexplicably, there was a square of carpet with a lone top hat in the middle of the large space, and Joe’s brother asked why it was there. The woman working the door looked at us like we were idiots and replied that it was quite obviously part of the 1870’s aesthetic. After looking around in bewilderment at the sparse glass and cement room with only the carpet and top hat to break up the transparency, we rolled our eyes and moved on.

Not far from the square is El Museo Nacional de Prado, which is one of the premier Renaissance and 17-19^th century art museums in Europe. Only Joshua, Joe’s youngest brother, and I were even remotely interested in going in, so we got our free student entrance while the rest of the crew headed back to the hotel for a “siesta”. Inside the museum, we found an amazing selection of sculpture and paintings ranging from artists as famous as Rembrandt and El Greco to obscure names we’d never heard of. We strolled through, and stopped several times to admire the art students dotted throughout the halls who were painting reproductions of famous works hung there.

Once we were tired from walking and beginning to think of dinner, we hopped back on the Metro and went back to the hotel to round up the rest of our group. We then piled into a cab and headed to one of the main restaurant areas, a street full of somewhat tourist-y but still reasonably priced Spanish restaurants. Then, we had a feast! We found a place with a gregarious and loud owner standing out front, who then beckoned us in and put together a menu of fried seafood, paella, vegetables, and sangria, and we ate probably more than anyone ever should. And it was delicious! In traditional Spanish style, it was probably a two-hour meal, and yet Joe was somehow still hungry as we lumbered back toward the Metro.  So we ducked back into the market for another round of Greek yogurt, only to spot some similar faces in the crowd. Two of our Rhodie friends had told us they’d be traveling in Spain, but we never thought we would run across them in a crowded market in Madrid! We had some good laughs and wished them well on their travels, but the 3 am wakeup was starting to catch up to us, and we didn’t stay long to chat.

We all fell straight into bed when we arrived back at the hotel, because we knew we’d be getting up early to catch a train to Toledo, a medieval city only a half hour away from Madrid. While Madrid is now a booming metropolitan center with only a few areas resembling the Old Spain of empires, Toledo still has a beautiful walled historic centre on a bluff overlooking scenic countryside. After finding the Metro route to the train station, we grabbed sandwiches and coffee and ate them as we watched the countryside flow by. Weirdly, it reminded me of areas of Northern California that I’ve driven through on past trips.

When we arrived in Toledo, we could immediately see the difference from the lovely Moorish-style train station and the patiently waiting bus that wound us up the long hill, offering beautiful views of the old city the entire way. It dropped us in the central square, and we immediately walked to the edge of the bluff to enjoy a small park and the panoramic views. Then we spent some time winding through the steep stone streets, discovering pretty little plazas and many shops around different corners. We eventually ended up at the Catedral de Toledo, and although I was initially wary of the 8 Euro entrance fee, I completely understood the price once we were inside.

As someone who loves old churches, I’ve seen pretty much every style you can imagine. I can’t, however, really explain the beautiful mix of Gothic architecture, Renaissance art, and skilled sculpture work inside this cathedral. It took over 250 years just to complete the structure itself, and the art was completed almost 100 years after that. The altarpiece is the most intricate I’ve ever seen, an almost unintelligible motley of golden and brightly colored saints, disciples, and angels soaring up hundred of feet. Behind the altar is another art piece, a marble sculpture of angels that seems to be spilling from a high window down along both walls toward the floor. And then off to the side is the Sacristy, with an original ceiling painted by El Greco that is both huge and absolutely beautiful. The Sacristy now houses the art collection of the cathedral, which is extensive and contains impressive names from the Spanish Renaissance. Even beyond that the wonders continue, as an outdoor courtyard garden is surrounded by beautiful frescoes detailing the works of Spanish saints. Off that courtyard, I found my favorite part of the entire complex, which was a small room dedicated as the tomb of a Bishop, but containing some of the most amazing frescoes I’d ever seen. Apparently this official had gone to Rome for some time, and had brought back with him several masters to start the style of art in Spain, so when he died, each of the most accomplished Spanish fresco artists descended to decorate his tomb. I spent so much time in that room admiring the artwork that I found I’d lost Mrs. Riley, and made a quick lap of the cathedral before finding her outside, listening to a cellist who was playing beautiful music in another courtyard.

We headed back to meet up with the boys in another square, where they’d exited the church early to sit and drink coffee in the sunshine. After wandering for a while, we found a very reasonably priced restaurant, and split paella and pizzas for lunch. Then we set off back into the city, winding through the shopping districts, where I purchased an ornately painted ceramic plate in the almost Moorish style very popular in southern Spain. We eventually came back around to the road the winds several kilometers down the hill towards the train station, and decided to spend our last two hours walking slowly and exploring the route. We found a park with beautiful arches of wisteria full of Toledan schoolchildren playing while still in their uniforms, and also took a detour to sit down by the river and enjoy the view of a Roman arched bridge that has stood for centuries. When we finally found ourselves back in the area of the train station, we had just enough time to enjoy an afternoon coffee in a pretty little café before we had to get back on the train to Madrid.

For dinner, Benjamin took us to one of his favorite tapas restaurants, where a huge glass case held small sizes of dishes ranging from a ball of fried potato filled with meat to smoked salmon and fried eggplant, and we tried a selection that ran the gamut. By the end, I thought I would explode if I ate anything else fried or a single piece more of cheese. After such a heavy dinner, it was all we could do to make it back to the hotel before falling asleep.

It was only a brief time in Spain, but it was absolutely lovely, and made me realize that I need to go back to see the other regions and gorgeous old cities. The next morning, we boarded a plane to Marrakesh….but Morrocco is another story for a different day.